DALLAS – Rice’s Anota Adekunle, who posted 41 kills and hit .493 over eight sets for the Owls, Charlotte’s Amani McArthur, who had 24 total blocks in three matches on the way to All-Tournament honors at the Windy City Classic, WKU’s Nadia Dieudonne, who racked up 114 assists, 24 digs and was named MVP of the LUV Invitational, and UTEP’s Ema Uskokovic, who had 30 kills and 14 blocks to help the Miners claim the Borderland Invitational, earned the second 2021 Conference USA Volleyball Player of the Week honors, presented by Surf & Turf Golf.
 
Adenkunle was selected as Offensive Player of the Week, McArthur earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, Dieudonne repeated as Setter of the Week and Uskokovic was the Freshman of the Week.
 
C-USA Offensive Player of the Week – Anota Adekunle, Rice, Jr., Humble, Texas
Adekunle had a huge weekend at the Adidas Invitational I for the Owls, as she posted 41 kills (73 attacks) and hit .493 over eight sets against Oregon and SMU. Against the No. 13 Ducks, she registered 13 kills on 29 attacks (.379) in a four-set defeat. The native of Humble, Texas followed up that performance with a career-high 28 kills on 44 attacks (.568) in a four-set victory over SMU. The 28 kills is tied for the best mark by a C-USA player this season, and the .568 hitting percentage is second in the conference in 2021.
 
C-USA Defensive Player of the Week – Amani McArthur, Charlotte, So., Summerville, South Carolina
McArthur earned All-Tournament team honors at the Windy City Classic with a dominant weekend with 24 total blocks (2.0 blocks/set in 12 sets) and six solo blocks that helped Charlotte to the team title. McArthur started with 11 total blocks (two solo) in a five-set defeat to North Dakota State before she posted five more total blocks (one solo) in a sweep over Niagara. The next day, the native of Summerville, South Carolina had eight more total blocks (three solo) in a four-set victory at host Chicago State. In addition to the blocks, McArthur had 22 kills over the weekend, hitting .353 against NDSU, .471 against Niagara and .375 vs. Chicago State (.400 for the tournament).
 
C-USA Setter of the Week – Nadia Dieudonne, WKU, 5th, Louisville, Kentucky
Dieudonne followed up her C-USA Co-Setter of the Week award last week with an even better showing at the LUV Invitational that pushed the Hilltoppers to a 6-0 overall mark. The fifth-year setter earned tournament MVP honors as WKU won all three matches. She opened the tournament with her first double-double of the season as she racked up 45 assists, 13 digs, 3 aces and a solo block against host and 2020 NCAA tournament participant Lipscomb. The next day, the native of Louisville, Kentucky led the Hilltoppers to a pair of sweeps as WKU hit to a .340 offensive clip against the Big 12’s Kansas and .300 against the ACC’s Wake Forest. In 10 sets during the weekend, Dieudonne averaged 11.40 assists/set, 2.40 digs/set, 0.70 kills/set, 0.40 aces/set and 0.40 blocks/set. Additionally, she was one of WKU’s most steady servers, with a 97.8% rate from the line in 46 attempts.
 
C-USA Freshman of the Week – Ema Uskokovic, UTEP, Fr., Belgrade, Serbia
Uskokovic had a big weekend with 30 kills (2.3 kills/set) on .264 hitting and 14 blocks to help UTEP claim the Borderland Invitational and run their overall record to 6-0 with victories against the Pac-12’s Arizona in five sets, the Big Ten’s Northwestern in a sweep and a five-set victory against rival New Mexico State during the weekend. She saved the best for last with a season-high 16 kills, hit .433 and added five blocks to help UTEP beat New Mexico State. The native of Belgrade, Serbia posted seven kills at a .263 clip and five blocks against Northwestern, and she opened the weekend up with seven kills, four blocks and a season-high tying four digs vs. Arizona.
 
2021 C-USA Offensive Players of the Week
A30     Lauren Matthews, WKU
S6        Anota Adekunle, Rice
 
2021 C-USA Defensive Players of the Week
A30     Destiny Leon, Marshall
S6        Amani McArthur, Charlotte
 
2021 C-USA Setters of the Week
A30     Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
            Kristen Fritsche, UTEP
S6        Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
 
2021 C-USA Freshmen of the Week
A30     Klara Zarnovicka, Florida Atlantic
S6        Ema Uskokovic, UTEP